Championship concerns for Michelin

Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier is concerned that the amount of teams using the
French manufacturer's tyres could in fact aid Michael Schumacher's
championship chances this season. Six teams now run on Michelins and
Dupasquier thinks Schumacher,...

Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier is concerned that the amount of teams using the
French manufacturer's tyres could in fact aid Michael Schumacher's
championship chances this season. Six teams now run on Michelins and
Dupasquier thinks Schumacher, who's Ferrari uses Bridgestones, doesn't have
to win consistently to be able to rack up enough points to win the title.

"In my opinion Michael Schumacher could easily win the title by coming
fourth in every Grand Prix while our drivers take points off each other," he
told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ferrari is the only top team Bridgestone supplies, while Michelin partners
front runners McLaren, Williams and Renault. Michelin appears to have made
much progress over the winter, especially with wet tyres, which has always
been Bridgestone's strong point.

Dupasquier finds it difficult to predict Michelin's progress as Ferrari has
spent much time in private testing over the winter. "Ferrari has so far only
tested by themselves, so this doesn't allow us to really judge the work of
our Japanese competitors, but I think they've really improved their
performance over a single lap," he commented.

"On the other hand, it doesn't seem like the same happened over longer
distances. At least by what little we could see. We have made steps forward
with the dry-weather tyres, but especially with the wets."